


Lucky Horseshoes

by LilyElk13



Category: Supernatural
Genre: (past though), Bad Parenting, Castiel Has a Crush on Dean Winchester, Dean Winchester Has a Crush on Castiel, Dean Winchester has a daughter, F/M, Farmer Dean Winchester, Gen, Good Parent Mary Winchester, Homelessness, Horse terminology lmao, Horseback Rider Castiel, Horseback Riding, Horses, I might add more or adjust tags as I go idk, John Winchester Being an Asshole, John Winchester's A+ Parenting, M/M, Parent Dean Winchester, Parent Sam Winchester, Single Parent Dean Winchester, Stable Hand Dean Winchester, Teenage Parents, dean had a daughter when he was like 16
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-31
Updated: 2019-05-31
Packaged: 2020-03-30 19:43:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19034371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LilyElk13/pseuds/LilyElk13
Summary: I'm a fuckign horse girl so I had to write this I also had to write this because I saw a photoshoot of jensen ackles with various horses and had a stroke so here it is





	Lucky Horseshoes

Dean took one step into the barn and already felt right at home. The smell of leather soap, for one, took him right back to his father’s farm. The memory felt like a lifetime ago. 

 

He glanced around at the slightly dusty rafters above him, the scattered hay that had yet to be swept up, and the few sparrows watching him closely from their posts atop stall walls. A few chirped at him as he walked in. 

 

A few riders were scuttling around, two tacking up their respective horses in a set of crossties. An older man, obviously the farrier, was in a third set, wrestling with the front leg of a massive bay gelding, and cursing while he was at it. 

 

Dean moved in, past the crossties and towards a door that read in proud letters “Barn Office”. He smiled at the bright red lettering and rapped on the frosted glass window that made up the top half of the door. It looked old, maybe from the 40s or 50s. 

 

“Come in!” A cheery voice rang out from inside. Dean carefully turned the dented brass knob and opened the door. A woman, maybe in her late thirties with a dark pixie cut, sat tapping quickly on a laptop. “I’ll be with you in juusstt a moment,” she muttered, not looking up from the computer. 

 

Dean took the time to look around the small room. A large, almost full wall window looked out into the sizable indoor arena, where a few riders where practicing groundwork. Ribbons of every place lined the walls, along with pictures from shows and the horses. The desk was messy but in an organized piles type of way. Dean could deal with that. He was the same way. 

 

“Hey!” The woman finally said, standing up an extending her hand for Dean to shake. “Jody Mills, I run this place. I’m assuming and also kind of hoping you are Dean Winchester?”

 

“That’s right,” Dean replied. “I’m here about the stablehand job.”

“Of course! Crowley said he already interviewed you and he said, quote-unquote, that you were ‘acceptable’ which means you’re practically a god in his standards, so I have no qualms about you working here. There’s just some paperwork and whatnot that needs to be filled out.”

 

She rushed around to the other side of the desk and pulled out a file folder. She held it out to Dean and then tossed him a pen. “Go hang out in the hay loft or somethin’ and get these filled out. Oh! You’re apartment’s all set up too, the electricity and water and such. You and your daughter can move in whenever you like.”

 

“God, I… don’t know what to say…” Dean stammered, taken aback at the pace at which the interaction had progressed. He’d had to fight for every goddamn thing in his life, and suddenly he had a job and a place to live that wasn’t a basement or tiny apartment rented from some sketchy dude. Or even his car. 

 

Jody put her hand on his shoulder. “Dean. You’re good at your job. You deserve it. I want you moved in by Saturday, okay? That gives you a good week and then we’ll get you started. Sound fair?”

 

“More than fair,” he grinned. She grinned right back. 

 

\-- 

 

Dean showed up at Sam and Jess’s house a few hours later, having turned in his paperwork and stopped to greet each of the horses in the lesson barn, at least. Jess opened the door, her curly blonde hair tied back in a loose bun and her squirming three year old on her hip. 

 

“Hey, Dean!”

 

“DEE!” the boy echoed excitedly. 

 

“I know, Joey,” Jess laughed, bouncing him a little bit. “C’mon in Dean, Sam’s in the kitchen with Emma.”

 

“Thanks for taking her today, I know I leave her with you guys a lot and-” 

 

“Dean, it’s fine. She’s a pleasure to have around. We really don’t mind, I promise.” 

 

Dean had had Emma when he was 16, which had definitely… complicated things at home. But now Emma was thirteen and he was 29 and he thought they had a pretty good relationship, considering their situation. Dean’s dad had booted him out of the house as soon as he found out about the baby and when Emma’s mother, Lydia, had completely relinquished custody to Dean, he had been forced to drop out of high school and was reduced to living in friend’s basements with a screaming daughter. He would then end up getting kicked out almost immediately, and Lydia had vanished into thin air. He'd never seen or heard from her again. He’d eventually given up on struggling to make ends meet and went to the local family shelter to get some help. They’d taken him and Emma in and got them on their feet. Dean still volunteered there on Mondays and Thursdays. Still, without a high school diploma, Dean still had very limited options for work, having to take up odd jobs, sing in bars, and more often than not, he and Emma had ended up living in the car. He’d managed to reconnect with Sam about a year before Joey was born, and under the radar of his parents, that still wanted nothing to do with him. 

 

Sam, his gigantic little brother, had gone the more traditional path, went to Stanford on a full ride, that smart sonuvabitch, married a lovely lady he met there, and had a kid at 22. Dean wasn’t worried, however, like their parents were, about Sam marrying and starting a family so young. Sam loved his wife and Dean just knew they’d be together as long as they lived. Joey was adorable, and the little baby girl Dean knew had to be sleeping right then, Lily, was just as precious. 

 

Sam was right where Jess said he was, taking a pan out of the oven, Emma on his heels but heeding the instructions to stay back from the hot metal. 

 

“Hey Dean!” he smiled at the same time Emma grinned and greeted him with a “Dad!”

 

“Hey chica, how was your day with your aunt and uncle?”

 

“Terrible,” she deadpanned, and then burst out laughing along with Dean. 

 

Sam stared at them. “You two are definitely related,” he chuckled, pulling off his oven mitts and tossing them onto the counter next to what looked like lasagna. 

 

“Obviously. I birthed her.”

 

“DAD that’s  _ gross!”  _ Emma groaned, grabbing onto her father’s muscular arm and hiking up her legs to hang off of it. Dean held her easily, swinging her back and forth a little before depositing on the ground. She was almost a teenager, but she was small and light as a feather, in Dean’s opinion. 

 

Jess entered the kitchen, the baby on her hip now and Joey following close behind. “How was the job finalization? Are you in?” She asked. 

 

“Sorry guys,” Dean started, looking at his feet. “I hate to tell you this, but... I got it!!!”

 

Sam smacked him on the arm. “Jesus, Dean. But congrats, man! I’m proud of you!”

 

Hugs and praises were passed around and led to Jess convincing Dean and Emma to stay for dinner. They didn’t head out until almost 7, when the sky was pink and melting. 

 

Emma trotted next to him on the way out to the car. “The sky’s staying light longer,” she mused. 

 

“It is.”

 

“Do we get to live on the farm? The one you’re going to work at?”

 

“We do. We’ve got a whole apartment, but a bigger one. We both get our own rooms.”

 

“You won’t have to sleep on the couch anymore?”

 

“No I won’t, chica.”

 

“That’s good,” she said, waiting for Dean to unlock the car and bouncing on her heels. “It's not good for your back.”

 

Dean stood for a second, looking at the sky while his daughter got in the car, and thinking about how wise she seemed, so much wisdom for someone so young. She was thirteen, for god’s sake. 

 

He got in the car.

 

“Thank you, by the way,” she murmured, turning to look at him once he settled in the driver’s seat. Her golden hair and dark eyes flashed in the dying sun. He was reminded of how little she looked like him. She looked like her mother and Dean’s grandfather, really. But still beautiful. And still,  _ his.  _

 

“For what, baby,” he replied, turning his key in the ignition. The old Impala sprung to life. 

 

“For sleeping on the couch. You’ve given me the bed wherever we’ve lived. Thanks for that.”

 

He smiled at her, and moved his right hand to rub between her shoulder blades. 

 

_ I’ll give you anything, always. I’ve got you, baby.  _

 

The words went unspoken, but he knew they were heard. 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> enjoy, more chapters will be up soon uwu


End file.
